Billie Eilish performs for packed NC arena as coronavirus postpones her tour
Lined up outside PNC Arena at 6 p.m. Thursday, some standing there since morning, was a sea of neon green pants, shirts and beanies on excited teenagers’ heads.
Thousands of people were still there for the Billie Eilish concert, just as if it was any other day and not hours after Gov. Roy Cooper had advised North Carolinians to cancel, postpone or modify any event with 100 people or more, starting Friday, in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.
It also was the same day as the cancellation of all college basketball tournaments, including the NCAA Tournament, which had been played every year since 1939, and the suspension of the NBA, MLB and NHL seasons.
And yet, the concert crowd was still fairly large and near capacity for regular seating, possibly because fans wanted to be there for the last concert Eilish is doing before postponing the rest of her tour. Shortly before she took the stage, she announced the postponement of 11 concert dates through the end of March, including high-profile venues like Madison Square Garden.
Only the standing area around the stage was about half-empty.
Cory Anderson and Thomas Deal came prepared with masks and wore them off and on while waiting in line. Anderson said they chose to wear them, partially because Eilish often wears them as a fashion statement, but “mostly for the virus.”
“When we get inside, we’re definitely going to keep them on,” Anderson told The News & Observer.
The couple said they had mixed feelings about the concert not being rescheduled, but definitely weren’t going to miss Eilish’s last concert for the foreseeable future.
But some families had to give up the chance to see the pop star, who recently became the youngest-ever winner of Album of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards and the first female artist to sweep all four of the biggest categories.
Brian Grant told The N&O he and his wife, Tania, decided Thursday evening against taking their two daughters — Ellie, 12, and Valya, 17 — to the show. They got them tickets as Christmas presents — three tickets for $80 each, but Brian Grant said they’re being more cautious than most for their youngest child’s health.
That’s Silas, a 3-year-old with Down syndrome, who has had heart surgery, his kidney removed, and a past with pneumonia. “We are more cautious than most,” Brian said.
As the doors to PNC Arena, a group of high school kids started jumping up and down, screaming. They almost certainly weren’t thinking about the coronavirus.
Eilish’s last show for now
Fans waited an hour-and-a-half after the original start time to see any performance. There was no opening act.
But after chanting from the crowd, the lights dimmed and a bed with flashing lights floated towards the ceiling of the arena. Then Eilish fell out of it, slowly drifting back to the floor.
The cheers from the neon green teenagers were deafening, before they immediately started singing every word along with Eilish to “bury a friend” off her award-winning album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?”
A few songs in, she told the crowd it was her last show for now.
”Because of that, that gives us extra reason to go hard, yes?” she said. And apparently, her fans could, in fact, get extra loud.
Eilish’s stage set was simple. For the most part, she was only joined by her brother, Finneas, who also has a burgeoning solo music career, on keys as well as guitar and drummer Andrew Marshall.
And there was also the staircase that extended up out of the floor, carrying her 20 feet into the air, so she could climb onto a floating and tilting catwalk in front of a giant screen with a spider on it. Later on, the crowd was treated to a confetti tornado intermission, propeller flown balloons and a video of puppies playing in a field while she sang “8.”
The last of four video intermissions in the show featured her tackling body shaming for her distinct style of baggy clothes that match her green and black hair. In the video, she takes off her shirt, saying, “If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman. If I shed the layers, I am a slut.”
Eilish’s music is a change from the traditional idea of pop music, regularly switching between room-shaking bass, ukulele accompanied by hip-hop beats and even lines from “The Office.” But her sudden stardom makes sense. She’s innovative and very quickly separating herself as the star for kids born after 2000.
She employed the crowd like a pro, getting them to “scream as loud as you possibly can” whenever she wanted and then immediately hushing them with her trademark soft, smoky voice that can climb multiple octaves very quickly.
An acoustic performance of “i love you” was one of the most memorable moments of the night, sitting beside her brother on a small stage on the other end of the arena. It’s a simple song, but her voice was captivating. If only the folks in the standing area could’ve seen it up close; most of them decided to stay back in their spots near the main stage than follow her across the court, and instead watch her on the big screen with their backs turned to her.
You just wanted to scream, “She’s right there, in person, behind you!”
Eilish is possibly one of the most self-assured 18-year-olds you’ll ever seen on a stage — kicking and dancing around, having fun and freely singing in front of thousands who obsess over her. Every once in a while, she’d even let off a quick, confident smirk.
And she didn’t forget what still made the night so odd, as it also was one of the last Live Nation shows for awhile. She first gave condolences to anyone who couldn’t make it before cracking a joke. “I hope you’re not here if you’re infected,” she said.
Nearing the end of the show, Eilish got more serious with her fans: “Let’s be grateful that we’re breathing and alive right now.”
“I know you could’ve easily stayed home and I especially appreciate you coming out tonight,” she said.
But after the serious part, she sang her biggest hit “bad guy” and went right back to making every teenager decked out in neon green lose their minds.
Hopefully sooner than later, the rest of the U.S. will get to experience her on a more normal evening.
Billie Eilish’s Setlist
1. “bury a friend”
2. “you should see me in a crown”
3. “my strange addiction”
4. “ocean eyes”
5. “COPYCAT”
6. “WHEN I WAS OLDER”
7. “8”
8. “wish you were gay”
9. “xanny”
10. “The Hill” (The Swell Season)
11. “lovely”
12. “listen before i go”
13. “i love you”
14. “ilomilo”
15. “bellyache”
16. “idontwannabeyouanymore”
17. “No Time to Die”
18. “when the party’s over”
19. “all the good girls go to hell”
20. “everything i wanted”
21. “bad guy”
22. “goodbye”
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Billie Eilish performs for packed NC arena as coronavirus postpones her tour."
